February 2012
ICI’s E-Mentoring Program Helps Prepare Youth with Disabilities for Life After High School
Among young adults in general, young people with disabilities have the highest unemployment rates, lowest participation in postsecondary training and education, and highest likelihood of remaining dependent on public assistance programs after high school. Participation in mentoring programs can help change these outcomes.
The E-Connect e-mentoring program, developed at the Institute on Community Integration (ICI), combines technology and the time-tested practice of mentoring to create a program that connects high school students with disabilities to volunteer mentors from their local business community. It utilizes e-mail and school-supervised face-to-face meetings between mentors and mentees to offer students the opportunity to learn about the skills necessary for future employment and be exposed to career options and fields that may have been otherwise overlooked. The program is school-based and built around the E-Connect curriculum. To get started, schools connect with local employers to form a mentoring partnership. Employee volunteers spend a short period of time weekly corresponding with students via e-mail over the course of a semester. Teachers guide and monitor the process, integrating the mentoring experience into class activities and into career exploration and awareness. Each week the teacher posts online questions relevant to career and work provided by the curriculum for the mentors and students to discuss over e-mail. Students and mentors also have opportunities for non-structured interaction via e-mail and discussion of areas of common interest. Twice each semester, they meet face-to-face at structured, school-sponsored visits, once at the business and once at the school.
E-Connect was launched by ICI in 2007, with implementation funded by Pathways to Employment, a partnership between the Minnesota Department of Human Services, Minnesota Department of Employment and Economic Development, and Minnesota State Council on Disability. The program has been implemented at sites in 28 schools, included over 350 students, and involved mentors from over 85 businesses. Participating businesses represent a variety of fields, including health care, manufacturing, information technology, the automotive industry, banking, and retail sales. Among them have been Medtronic, Cummins Manufacturing, Foley Lumber Company, Mayo Clinic, Navy Island Plywood, Allete-Minnesota Power Company, Tapemark Corporation, US Bank, St. Mary’s Hospital (Duluth), and Cloquet Ford.
Joe Timmons of ICI started the first E-Connect program at Fridley High School. He notes, “We’ve found that students participating in the mentoring program greatly value their relationships with their mentors and exposure to careers and the world of work.” Sharon Mulé, project coordinator at ICI, agrees, adding, “The mentors also benefit. They feel a stronger connection to the community, and develop a better understanding of the potential of youth with disabilities.”
The e-mentoring program’s new Web site at http://ici.umn.edu/e-connect contains resources for schools, businesses, and students interested in exploring this option. Grant funding for E-Connect ended in December 2011, but interest continues to grow and e-mentoring partnerships around the state continue to help students with disabilities prepare for employment and education after high school.
FFI contact, Sharon Mulé at ssmule@umn.edu or 612-626-0335.